Futsal Teams Suffer Narrow Defeats

The Posh Futsal B and C teams concluded their league campaigns with narrow defeats to Norwich and Southampton at the Barking Sporthouse, London, last Wednesday.

Both sides found themselves behind at half-time and were unlucky not to complete second half comebacks after showing great spirit and determination. The B team were beaten 4-3 by Norwich City while the C team were defeated 3-2 by Southampton.

The Posh’s B side found themselves up against a strong Norwich City and were unlucky not to take an early lead through Callum Avent, but his long range effort was well saved by the Canaries ‘keeper. The Canaries went on to dominate most of the first half and found themselves 2-0 up at half-time. Posh ‘keeper Louis Bland made a fine save in the build up to the first goal, but the ball ricocheted back off Avent before rolling over the line, while the second goal was a left footed strike that found the back of the net via the inside of the post.

Norwich went 3-0 up just after the restart and it was that goal that seemed to spark the Posh players in to almost completing a comeback. Avent made it 3-1 seconds later when firing in to the far corner from the left hand side of the box, and Chris Wyhatt almost made it 3-2 when his close range shot was blocked by a defender. Posh did manage to make it 3-2 though, and it was Danny Firth with a toe-poked right foot finish following a brilliantly worked one-two with Avent.

The Posh continued to call the Norwich ‘keeper in to action when searching for an equaliser, but he done exceptionally well to keep out shots from Firth, Ollie Brant and Luke Franklin. Despite all the pressure from Posh, it was Norwich who grabbed the sixth goal of the game after a turn and shot in the box found its way under Bland. A goal line clearance from Firth kept the score line at 4-2, and a late Ollie Brant strike made for a nervy final few minutes for the Canaries. The Posh’s top scorer made it 29 goals for the season when firing low and hard past the Norwich goalkeeper. The Posh went route one and tried to pile on the pressure in the dying seconds of the game, but were unable to find the equaliser they arguably deserved.

The C team started their match at a fairly high tempo, and Lewis Soames almost broke the deadlock on a number of occasions in the opening minutes. Soames saw two efforts beaten away by the Saints ‘keeper and one clip the outside of the post, before clearing off his own goal line moments later to keep the score at 0-0.

Southampton found their way in to the game though and took the lead moments later when finding the back of the net from close range, but Posh almost bounced back immediately when Soames, Calum Slater and Connor Mitchell all called the Saints ‘keeper in to action once again. Southampton almost doubled their lead on half-time but their one-on-one effort struck the base of the post before being cleared by Dan Hardy.

Southampton did double their lead in the second half, but two goals in four minutes from Josh Backhouse and Calum Slater soon made it 2-2. A Backhouse touch, turn and half-volley made it 2-1 and Slater made no mistake in front of goal when calmly slotting in to the bottom right corner to pull the Posh back on level terms.

All 10 players were involved in some pushing and shoving following a Soames challenge, and the incident resulted in Soames and a Southampton player being shown red cards. Southampton took advantage of the extra space when both teams were a man down for two minutes, and a neat close range finish saw them take a 3-2 lead with just over five minutes remaining. The Posh continued to call the Saints ‘keeper in to action but failed to find a late equaliser when Slater, Mitchell and Backhouse all took aim on goal.

The two matches were to be the last for our 2nd year scholars as they will be departing us this summer. We would like to thank them for their efforts over the last two years, and wish them well in the future.